Participants in the holiday budget anticipate spending an average of $103.63, which is $4.62 less than the record of $108.24 set the previous year.
Halloween purchasing is getting more and more early. Of those surveyed, 47% started their shopping before October, according to Prosper Insights & Analytics’ annual poll on the holiday on behalf of the National Retail Federation (NRF).
This percentage is higher than it was five years ago (37%), when it was only 32% in 2014. It is anticipated that Halloween expenditures would total $11.6 billion, a little less than the $12.2 billion record established by last year.
For many Americans, Halloween signals the formal start of fall, and shoppers are excited to start saving money on new seasonal décor and other fall-themed products, according to Katherine Cullen, vice president of industry and consumer analytics at NRF. “Shoppers can find everything they need to make this year’s festivities unforgettable at retailers, who are ready to meet this early demand.”
The popularity of early shopping for ghouls, ghosts, and other Halloween merchandise is still on the rise. The main motivations given by early buyers are that they love Halloween (37 percent), are anticipating the fall season (48 percent), and want to avoid the stress of last-minute shopping (38 percent).
The 25–34 age bracket continues to be the most interested in early Halloween buying, with 56% of these customers starting their purchasing before October, according to Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper. The fact that almost half of this group said they planned to purchase early since Halloween is their favorite holiday speaks volumes about how much they adore the occasion.
Jennifer Marks/HTT captured this image of the store’s Halloween cushions at Five Less than 72% of consumers say they will celebrate Halloween this year, which is in line with the record set by 73% last year. The most popular holiday activities are decorating their house or yard (52 percent), making costumes (49 percent), giving out candy (67 percent), and carving a pumpkin (43 percent)and throwing or attending a party (29 percent).
Participants in the holiday budget anticipate spending an average of $103.63, which is $4.62 less than the record of $108.24 set the previous year. Candy continues to be the most popular purchase category overall, with $3.5 billion in sales predicted. It is anticipated that $3.8 billion will be spent on decorations overall, with $3.8 billion going on costumes and $0.5 billion toward greeting cards. Discount stores continue to be the most popular place to purchase Halloween goods (37%), followed by online (33%), and specialty/costume stores (33%).
As in the previous year, a total of $1.8 billion is predicted to be spent on adult costumes, while $1.3 billion is predicted to be spent on children’s costumes. Pet costumes are expected to continue to be in high demand, with sales expected to exceed $0.7 billion. Online searches (38 percent), retail stores or costume shops (28 percent), and friends and family (20 percent) remain the most popular places to find ideas.
7,945 customers were questioned about their Halloween buying plans in this year’s Halloween study. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points and was performed between September 3–8.
